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What Has Become of American Fundamentalism?

By Filings on Mon, 03/21/22
Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism
George Marsden
Fundamentalism

George Marsden: The old divide between fundamentalists and other conservative evangelicals has faded as many from various denominational and doctrinal traditions have become close allies in common political concerns.

Discussion

Profile picture for user Craig Toliver
Craig Toliver

NewOn the "Secret Rapture"

Mon, 03/21/22

Interesting that the author would capitalize “Secret Rapture”

An ‘if statement’ (I’m a programmer)

If

  • There will be a tribulation (7 years) AND
  • If the rapture is pre-trib (AND)
  • if the world population at that time were to be 8 billion (it’s there now!) (AND)
  • The percentage of real Christians will be 5% (“will he find faith on the earth?”)

Then the number or living raptured saints would be 400 M people!

400 M people disappearing wouldn’t be very secret would it!

I’m just one … my disappearance would alarm some people!

Profile picture for user Craig Toliver
Craig Toliver

NewInteresting and a canard that ....

Mon, 03/21/22

It’s interesting and a canard that “Left Behind” is like a pre-mill dispy fundy ‘theology book’ of sorts!

Political militancy became a theme in dispensational premillennialism as well. From 1995 to 2006, the Left Behind series of novels by militant cultural warriors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins sold over sixty million copies. One might suppose that ardent dispensationalists who preach that Christ will return within the next few years would care little about long-term political issues. But in the Left Behind series, political battles are at the center of the end-time events themselves

It’s not!

Profile picture for user dcbii
dcbii

NewCraig Toliver wrote:

Mon, 03/21/22

[Craig Toliver]

It’s interesting and a canard that “Left Behind” is like a pre-mill dispy fundy ‘theology book’ of sorts!

Political militancy became a theme in dispensational premillennialism as well. From 1995 to 2006, the Left Behind series of novels by militant cultural warriors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins sold over sixty million copies. One might suppose that ardent dispensationalists who preach that Christ will return within the next few years would care little about long-term political issues. But in the Left Behind series, political battles are at the center of the end-time events themselves

It’s not!

I think it was fairly obvious that “Left Behind” was fiction, not theology, though for some believers, that series might be the only work approaching “theology” they read. I did read these as my family was reading them, and I found them interesting, but clearly both fictional and speculative.

In order to understand the theological thinking that was behind the books, I also purchased and read LaHaye’s “Revelation Unveiled,” which was a later update of his commentary “Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain.” It’s essentially a popular-level commentary on Revelation, and was an easy and interesting read. Clearly, it wasn’t really a theology work either, but it was much more so than “Left Behind.”

Dave Barnhart

Related . . .

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

(ESV, Proverbs 15:1)

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